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Reese Kennedy from his early 1980s drive on Highway 7
words and images Jim Warnock, black and white images, Reese Kennedy
At five years old, I approached my mother’s older brother.
After Reese’s death, I learned that he once drove Scenic
“Uncle Reese, would you draw me a Texas Longhorn?” He
Highway 7, making repeated stops to paint or take photos
was a soft-spoken art teacher and politely put off my request.
to paint from later. Passers by must have felt envious of that
Finally, after two days of repeated appeals, I said, “Uncle Reese,
free-spirited artist next to the road watercolor palette in hand.
CAN you draw a Texas Longhorn?”
Since I shared their envy, I decided to retrace his path.
Reese Kennedy, who would later become the first president
Over the years, I’ve hiked many trails that intersected Highway
of the Southwest Watercolor Society and art professor at
7 but thought of the road in practical terms as just a way of
Stephen F. Austin University, led me to his studio. I watched
getting to the trails. For this trip, I would attempt to see not
with wide eyes as his paint-splotched fingers made graceful
only with Uncle Reese’s eyes, but also through the lens of my
ink marks with a surgeon’s precision. Faint outlines of
life experiences, stopping, not to paint, but to capture scenes
eyes and horns took shape. A slight smile formed behind
with my camera. What follows are only a few of those stops.
his beard as he scraped the paper with colored chalk. In a quiet baritone voice, he said, “There, your very own
We began at the Louisiana border, south of my hometown, El
Texas Longhorn.” It was signed “Drawn for Jim Warnock
Dorado. My wife Becca served as my navigator to keep me on
Thanksgiving 1960.”
track in case I became engrossed in the scenery. Highway 7 isn’t
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